Playing With Fire
by BelovedEnemy83
Summary: Hermione has been in love with Blaise Zabini for as long as she can remember. When she finally decides to take a chance and go after him, she seeks out the help of his best friend, Draco Malfoy. When you play with fire, you're bound to get burned.
1. Completely Forgettable

**Hey everyone! I've always wanted to write a story with Blaise Zabini as one of Hermione's love interests and this is it! There will definitely be plenty of Dramione action though as well! Please let me know what you think!**

**Now, on with the show...**

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Hermione Granger had finally finished unpacking all of her belongings and sat on her bed to admire her new room. All of her hard work over the last six years had finally paid off and she was beyond proud to call herself the Head Girl. Her room was the size of the Gryffindor girl's dorm, and it was all hers. It was decorated tastefully in red and gold with a large four poster bed, a desk, bookcase, dresser and two bedside tables. Her window gave hera beautiful view of the Black Lake and amazing sunsets.

She had been with Harry and the Weasley's when she got her letter stating that she was going to be the Head Girl, and she had jumped up and down, screaming and grinning like an idiot. No one had been the least bit surprised, but they all had congratulated her none the less. She had scanned her letter and glowered at it when she saw that Draco Malfoy was going to be the Head boy, though, she wasn't surprised by the news. Even though Hermione liked to say that the only reason why he was ever allowed to attend Hogwarts was because his daddy had bought his way in, she knew that that was complete rubbish; Malfoy, in fact, was the smartest boy in the school. He had worked just as hard as Hermione had, and he deserved it just as much as she did. She would die before she would ever admit that, though. He had spent the last six years making her life as miserable as possible, calling her Mudblood as often as he could. She knew that that term was complete rubbish and the she deserved to be there as much as he did regardless of her blood status. Over the years, the name had lost its meaning as far as she was concerned, and it just didn't bother her anymore. She did not fancy the idea of sharing a common room and bathroom with the slimy git, but it was a small price to pay.

Hermione looked at her watch and saw that it was still early, so she decided to go catch up with her friends in the Gryffindor common room. She shoved her trunk under her bed and headed out. She was descending her staircase when she heard laughter drifting up from the common room. She got to the bottom and was not at all happy with the scene before her; Draco Malfoy was loitering in the common room with four of his closest friends...Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass; it was absolutely disgusting how beautiful these people were. Daphne had long, blond hair and a flawless complexion. She had the grace of a ballerina and the brains of an Einstein. She would have been the Head Girl if Hermione hadn't beat her to it. Pansy had curly, deep burgundy hair and intense green eyes. She had been latched onto Theodore Nott since their fifth year. Theodore had shaggy brown hair and a lanky build. Draco had stopped gelling his hair in their fourth year and now it just fell naturally around his face. He was the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team and had the well-defined body to show for it. Hermione's eyes finally fell on Blaise Zabini, and she had to remind herself to breathe. Blaise Zabini was the definition of breathtaking, as far as Hermione was concerned. He was an Italian god, with shiny black hair, flawlessly tanned skin and a body that easily rivaled Draco's. Hermione had been head-over-heels for him since their fifth year, but had never plucked up the courage to talk to him. The fact that he was Draco Malfoy's best friend didn't make things any easier.

The sound of someone clearing their throat jolted Hermione back to reality.

"What are you gawking at Granger?"

She fixed her icy glare on Malfoy, "Don't think for a moment that you are going to turn this into the newest Slytherin hang out. It's bad enough that I have to deal with one slimy Slytherin on a daily basis." Hermione barked.

Daphne and Pansy bristled at her comment and Malfoy sneered at her, "Well, get used to it Mudblood. I have every right to have my friends over here as much as I want."

Hermione smirked, "Just remember that next time I have my friends here."

Pansy scoffed, "You have to have friends before they can hang out with you, Granger."

As pretty as Pansy was, she wasn't all that smart.

"Did you give all your brains to Greengrass, Parkinson? That must be why she's so smart."

Daphne snickered at the backhanded compliment, but said nothing.

Pansy's face turned red and she got off Theodore's lap and headed straight for Hermione.

Hermione held her hand up, "Stop right there Parkinson. If you lay a finger on me, I'll give you so much detention that your social life will become nonexistent.'

Pansy stopped, but continued to sneer at Hermione, "Is that was this is about? Are you jealous because I actually have a life?"

Hermione snorted, "You call this a life?" She flung her hand towards the Slytherins.

Pansy smiled, "It's a life you could only ever dream of, Granger. Does it bother you that boys like Theo, Draco and Blaise wouldn't look twice at a filthyMudblood like you? It's not even so much your blood status. You are just so..." She paused to give Hermione a once over, "...plain. Just completely and utterly forgettable."

Tears were threatening to spill out of Hermione's eyes, but she absolutely refused to let them see her cry. She dared to look over at them and saw that they were all smirking; except for Blaise. He was just looking at her; no emotion on his face. That was one of the things that Hermione had always loved about Blaise; he was never mean to her. Granted, he never tried to stop his friends from being gits to her, but he never actually partook in the tormenting.

Hermione swallowed back her tears and turned her attention back to Pansy, "I would rather be an utterly forgettable person, than a vapid, insipid little twat like you. One week's detention for insulting the Head Girl. Now, get out of my face."

She shoved past Pansy and stormed out of the common room. When the door slammed shut, Pansy smiled, "That was fun. I think I'm going to like spending time here."

Draco grimaced, "Well, please keep in mind that I have to deal with that bitch way more than you do, so go easy on the insults. I don't want to have to deal with her any more than absolutely necessary."

Pansy pouted, but went back to her previous seat on Theo's lap, "You are no fun, Draco."

Daphne elbowed Blaise in the ribs, "What's on your mind, Mr. Stoic?"

"One day that girl is going to lose it and hex the whole lot of you."

"Oh, but not you?"

"Of course not; I'm never mean to her."

Draco looked suspiciously at his best friend, "And why is that, exactly?"

Pansy gasped in horror, "Please don't tell me that you actually like the Mudblood!"

Blaise chuckled, "As you said Pansy, she's just too plain for my taste. Although, she does get major kudos for putting up with the likes of us and not killing us all on the spot."

Draco shook his head in disbelief, "You've gone soft for the Mudblood; I don't believe it."

Blaise rolled his eyes, "My feelings toward Granger have never changed; I've never held against her the fact that she wasn't born into this world. I'm not a stuck up snob like the rest of you."

Daphne frowned, "Hey, I don't care about her blood either. I don't like her simply because she always beats me in all our bloody classes."

Draco ignored Daphne's complaint and turned his attention back to Blaise, "Remind me why I put up with you."

Pansy responded before Blaise could, "Because he's beautiful, disgustingly wealthy and the only person in this room who is willing to put up with you for more than a few hours at a time."

Blaise smirked, "That about covers it."

Draco just rolled his eyes and shoved the thoughts of the Mudblood out of his head.

XXX

After Hermione had slammed the door, she ran to the nearest corridor to hide as the tears started spilling down her face. Pansy had been a complete bitch, but she was also completely right; Hermione was just about as plain as a person could get. Her dull brown hair was always frizzing out so badly that she had to constantly keep it clipped up or tied back. Her eyes were brown; not golden, coffee or mahogany; they were just brown. She knew that she had a decent enough body, but she always hid it behind clothes that were at least two sizes too big; she had just never cared what other people thought about her. Having Pansy degrade her right in front of Blaise Zabini had made Hermione come to a realization; she was just as good as they were. She was tired of being constantly degraded by Malfoy and his slimy friends and she was tired of seeing that look of pity on Blaise's face every time it happened. She knew that he and Daphne had briefly dated in their sixth year and she firmly believed that she was just as good as Daphne was and therefore, she had just as much of a chance to be with him. The only question was, how in the hell was she supposed to attract the attention of someone as seemingly untouchable as Blaise Zabini? As soon as she asked herself that question, Hermione knew the answer. The best way to get to Blaise was through his best friend; Draco Malfoy.

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**Are you intrigued enough to want more?! I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! :)**


	2. A proposition

It had been a month since school had started and a month since Hermione had set her sights on Blaise Zabini. She had spent all of her free time trying to figure out just how exactly she was supposed to approach Draco Malfoy with her plans. She knew that the best way to get to Blaise was to go through his best friend; a person who knew him better than anyone. She knew that she had to get help from Draco, she just had no idea how to go about it. They had spent the last six years loathing the sight of each other and never had a nice word to say when together and she was just supposed to come up to him and say, 'Hi, I want you to help me get your best friend to fall in love with me?' PFFT! Hermione rolled her eyes at the thought. He would laugh in her face, call her every nasty name in the book and then go and tell Blaise about her pathetic little crush. There was no way that she was going to let that happen. She had been wracking her brain for a plan and had almost given up when her prayers were answered in the form of Professor Vector. Hermione was in her common room when Draco and Blaise walked in.

Draco threw his bag on the floor and kicked it across the room, "That bitch has no idea what she's doing to me!"

Blaise saw Hermione and cleared his throat. Draco looked at her and glared. He opened his mouth to spit something nasty, but she threw up her hands in defense, "Don't bother, Malfoy; I'm leaving."

She grabbed her stuff and booked it up the stairs to her room. She opened the door and closed it, but stayed just at the top of the stairs to eavesdrop.

Draco kicked his bag again and started pacing the room, "My father is going to kick my ass if he finds out that I'm failing a class so early in the year."

"Why the hell did you sign up for Arithmancy anyway?" Blaise lounged on the couch and watched Draco wear a hole in the carpet.

"Clearly because I'm stupid."

"So, just get a tutor."

Draco scoffed, "Draco Malfoy does not have tutors."

Blaise rolled his eyes, "You've really got to get over yourself, mate. If you don't bring up your grade, your dad will kick your ass, as you said."

Draco finally sat down and out his hands in his head, "I'm dead."

Blaise went over and clapped his friend on the back, "Only if you choose to be, mate. Daphne needs my help with a potions assignment, so I'll catch you later."

Blaise left and Draco continued to sulk.

Hermione sat at the top of the stairs and reviewed everything that she had just heard; Draco Malfoy was failing Arithmancy. That was absolutely perfect; Arithmancy just happened to be one of her subjects. Blaise's suggestion of Draco getting a tutor had given Hermione the perfect opportunity to put her plans into motion. She left her stuff by her door and descended the stairs. She saw Malfoy sitting in a chair, glaring at the fireplace.

She casually walked over and took a seat on the couch across from him.

He moved his glare from the fireplace to her, "What the hell do you want, Mudblood?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You've got to know by now that that name means absolutely nothing to me anymore."

"Well, it's what you are, so I will use it anytime I see fit."

"Suit yourself; so, you are failing Arithmancy, huh?"

Draco jumped up and stocked towards her, "You were eavesdropping!?" Draco grabbed Hermione's arm and roughly pulled her off the couch and pulled her against him, "Do you have death wish?"

This close to him, Hermione could see that Draco's normally gray eyes were now a molten silver, "Hurting me isn't going to fix your situation, Malfoy; let go of me!" She jerked her arm out of his grasp and put some distance between them.

"I can help you."

"Why the fuck would I want help from you!?"

"Well, it seems that you either let me help you, or you deal with the wrath of your father."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them when she saw him snarl and launch himself at her. She tried to side step him, but he grabbed her arm again and shoved her against the wall; she inhaled sharply from the pain as her back collided with the hard surface. He wrapped his hand around her throat and she swallowed hard.

"Don't you dare say a word about my father, you stupid little bitch!" Draco seethed.

"Ok; I'm sorry!"

Draco released her and took a step back. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and brought her hand to her neck to massage it. Draco looked at the bruises that were forming on her neck and he sighed. He went over and grabbed his wand out of his bag and pointed it at Hermione, muttering something under his breath as the bruises disappeared.

Hermione felt the pain go away and she looked at Draco in confusion, "You try to strangle me once minute, and then fix it the next. What the hell, Malfoy?"

"You're welcome, Granger."

Hermione snorted, "You expect me to thank for fixing the pain that _you _caused? Are you out of your damn mind?"

"I'm sorry that I hurt you, alright?"

Hermione looked at Malfoy as though he had just confessed his undying love to her, "I beg your pardon?"

Draco had never, in his life, physically hurt a woman...until today. Granger had popped off and he had lost his temper and hurt her. That was not who he was; he was _not _like his father.

"I-I shouldn't have done that. I lost my temper and I'm sorry. Just don't talk about my father. You know absolutely _nothing _about him, so just keep your mouth shut." Draco was clenching his fists and trying to calm down.

"I'm sorry."

Draco closed his eyes and took a breath; when he opened them, his normal, cocky demeanor was back and he smirked at Hermione, "You mentioned that you could help me?"

"Are you bipolar?"

"Am I what?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Never mind. Look, I will do your homework in Arithmancy for one month to get your grade back up and then I will tutor you until you can do your own homework without failing."

"Ok Granger, I'll bite. What do I have to do to get you to do my homework?"

Hermione didn't answer him right away; she knew that once she told him everything, there would be no going back. She was about to tell Draco Malfoy that she was head over heels for his best friend and then nothing would be the same again. Hermione stomped her foot in defiance. Her brain was trying to talk her out of this, but her heart was telling her to just do it already!

Draco waved his hand in Hermione's face, "Just spit it out Granger; what do you want?"

Hermione took a deep breath, "I want Zabini."

Draco's eyebrows shot up into his hairline, "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me, Malfoy; I want Zabini."

"Zabini...as in Blaise Zabini, my best friend?"

"That's the one."

At this point, Draco burst out laughing, "You are out of your fucking mind, woman!"

Hermione growled and threw a pillow at him, "That's why I want your help, you stupid prat! You can tell me about him; stuff that I would need to know that would make him...notice me."

Draco abruptly stopped laughing, "You're serious about this?"

"Of course I am. Before I go any further, just tell me one thing; what are my chances? As it stands now, I know I don't have a chance in hell, but with your help...would I?"

"I-" Draco stopped and genuinely thought about this. Hermione Granger wanted his help to land his best friend. Would Blaise ever even go for her? Draco remembered their conversation that first night back when Blaise had said that he didn't have anything against Granger; she was just to plain for him. Draco supposed that if she did something with her psychical appearance then she might stand a chance. Did he really want to play matchmaker for his friend? All he really had to do was give Granger information that would help her and if she failed miserably, then it would be her own fault. Granger really was the smartest witch in the school and she would definitely be the best person to help him get his grade back up. What could it hurt?

"Maybe; you would have to do a serious overhaul on your appearance. If you want Blaise to notice you, you have to have something _worth _noticing."

"Well, can you help me with that also?"

"Do my homework for _two _months."

Hermione grinned, "Deal."

"This doesn't mean that we are friends, Granger. I'm doing this just to get my grade back up before my father finds out."

"Of course, Malfoy. I wouldn't dream of tainting your reputation." Hermione sneered.

"Good; now shut up for a minute so I can think." Draco studied Hermione's appearance. Her hair was pulled back in an unruly pony tail, her skirt went down to her knees, her shirt left _everything _to the imagination, she wore black fuzzy tights, and thick shoes. He grimaced and looked up at her face; her face was decent. He reminded himself that he was thinking from Blaise's perspective and not from his own, so it was ok to think that Granger had a nice looking face. Draco grabbed a chair and transfigured it into a floor length mirror and hung it on the wall.

"Ok, Granger; turn around and face the mirror."

Hermione faced the mirror and saw Draco walk up to her. He took hold of her shirt and untucked it, then he bent down and pulled her skirt down so that it was hanging off her hips and stopped at her calves.

Hermione gasped and Draco smirked, "Relax Granger."

He stood back up and pointed his wand at her and muttered a spell. She watched her tights disappear, her skirt shorten until it stopped a few inches above her knees and her shirt shorten, just barely covering the top of her skirt. It also got tighter...a lot tighter. Draco saw that the shorter and tighter her clothes got, the more she blushed. Not being able to resist his chance to mess with her, he walked up right behind her and started unbuttoning the first few buttons on her shirt.

Hermione's hand flew to his to stop him, "What are you doing?"

Draco leaned in and murmured in her ear, "Blaise won't be interested in a girl that dresses like an old woman, Granger." Hermione felt his breath on her ear and couldn't help but shiver. Her gently grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face him and then stepped back to admire his handy work. Who would have known that Granger actually had a nice body? She had a great rack and killer legs; it was obvious that she took care of herself, but he couldn't figure out why she would even bother if she was just going to hide it from everyone.

"Better; now, take me to your room."

"Umm...why?"

"Are these the only clothes you own, Granger?"

"Of course not."

"Well, then I need to fix all your other clothes."

Hermione hesitated and Draco rolled his eyes, "Do you want my help or not?"

Hermione glared at him, but lead him up to her room. He went straight to her dresser, opened all the drawers and waved his wand over everything. When he opened her underwear drawer, Hermione protested.

"I've seen girls' knickers before, Granger." Draco stated. He pulled all of the tights out and then made them all disappear.

"Don't ever wear another pair of fuzzy tights; you are not five years old anymore."

Before he shut her underwear drawer, he said another spell and then shut it before she could see what he had done. He took one last look at her and flinched when he got up to her hair, "Put your hair down."

She took the rubber band out of her hair and it fell down her back in a mess of frizz.

"Honestly Granger, I don't know how you managed with that rat's nest all these years. Come stand in front of the mirror."

She walked over to her mirror and looked at her hair; Draco pointed his wand at it and she watched the transformation. Her hair shortened until it just past her shoulder blades, the frizz disappeared and it now fell in smooth, shiny layers. He made it a shade darker and added some red highlights.

Hermione gasped, "Oh, wow. It looks amazing!"

Draco dropped his wand to his side, "Why didn't you just change your hair before?"

"Because I'm not a superficial slag like Pansy."

"You don't have to be superficial to want to look decent, Granger."

"Well, I guess I just never cared. How am I going to explain this to people?"

Draco thought for a moment, "Tell people that I got tired of finding your hair in the bloody shower drain so I hexed it and it caught on fire and since you had to fix it anyway, you decided to improve it; I'll confirm it."

Hermione smirked at him, "You set my hair on fire? You've really thought about it, haven't you?"

"Well, I _was _tired of finding your hair all over the damn place."

"Well, thank you. Do you think Blaise will like it?"

"You are well on your way, Granger. Let's finish this tomorrow, shall we?"

"Yea, ok. Bring me your homework from Vector and I'll get started on it."

Draco nodded and left her room. Hermione turned back to her mirror and stared in awe at her new appearance; she had to admit that she looked amazing. She could definitely see Blaise looking twice at her; maybe even three or four times. Draco reappeared with his homework and she took it.

"What about the blood thing? That's not something I can change."

"Blaise doesn't care about blood status; he never has."

"Hmm, that must be why he never helped you pick on me. Why do you care about it?"

Draco looked at her for a moment, "It's the way I was raised."

"Well, that's a pretty poor reason if you ask me."

"Then it's a good thing I didn't ask you."

Hermione gave him a looked that bordered on pity and he glared at her. Before she could say anything else, he left the room and shut the door behind him, effectively ending their night. Hermione just shrugged at the door and went to her underwear drawer to see what Malfoy had done. She opened it and gasped; thongs, bikinis and lace as far as the eye could see all in green. He had changed every piece of underwear she owned; she held up a green thong and decided that it didn't look very comfortable. She grabbed her wand and tried to change it all back. When none of the spells worked, she cursed and slammed the door shut; Malfoy was enjoying this way more than he should.


	3. Slytherin Drama

Hermione woke up early the next morning. Even though it was Saturday, she had never been much for sleeping in. She grabbed her toiletries and robe and headed for the bathroom; she always woke up way before Malfoy did on the weekends, so she had the luxury of taking her time. After she got out of the shower, she studied herself in the mirror. First and foremost, her hair was the biggest transformation, and she absolutely loved it; she would definitely have to remember to thank Malfoy for that, even if everything else went to hell. She also noticed that her new hairstyle actually made her face...well, she thought she looked prettier. With the massive frizz gone, her features stood out a bit more and she noticed her hair color matched her eyes and it made them stand out. Her eyes traveled down past her breasts that filled out her now green and lacy size C bra rather well, past her flat stomach, and down to her rather shapely legs, if she did say so herself. Her skin wasn't pale like Malfoy's or a beautiful tan like Blaise's, it was right in the middle. She was no expert on the subject, but she thought that she looked pretty damn good. The real test would be how Blaise reacted the next time he saw her. Malfoy and his friends always spent the majority of their Saturdays in her common room, much to her annoyance, but it would actually work out perfectly today. Hermione smiled at her reflection one last time, wrapped her wet hair in a towel, put on her robe and headed back to her room. She towel dried her hair and then rummaged though her dresser for the day's clothes. She was not particularly fond of wearing butt floss, so she settled on a pair of green *sigh* bikini underwear and her very lacy, but soft green bra. She also grabbed a pair of jeans and a navy blue, button up sweater. When she was dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror and felt like barging into Malfoy's room and hexing him into oblivion. Her bra had practically pushed her boobs up to her ears, the buttons on her sweater were practically coming undone, and her jeans hung low on her hips, exposing way too much skin. She tried to fix her outfit, but once again, none of her spells worked. She could not go down to breakfast looking like this. She put her shoes on, stuck her wand in her back pocket and barreled down the stairs towards Malfoy's room.

She started pounding on his door, "Malfoy, get up! I can't go to breakfast in these clothes! Malfoy? WAKE UP!"

"Christ Granger, you're gonna wake the dead!"

Hermione spun around and practically flew down the stairs just in time to see Malfoy coming out of the bathroom. He opened his mouth to tell her to shut up, but stopped when he actually looked at her; she looked incredibly hot. The makeover he had given her had worked a little too well; she was supposed to get Blaise's attention, not his. Hermione seemed completely oblivious to the way he was looking at her as she put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"I am not going to breakfast like this, Malfoy! You have to fix my clothes...now." She took a moment to register the fact that he was standing there in nothing but a towel and his perfect skin was still wet. She pushed the thought of how completely edible he looked to the back of her mind and hardened her glare. She saw that he wasn't paying the least bit of attention, so she stomped her foot.

Draco snapped out of his daze, "What?"

Hermione stomped her foot again, "Fix my clothes, Malfoy! If any of the professors see me like this, I'll be in detention until graduation!"

Draco smirked, "I was wondering if you would actually go out like that."

"I am not a slag, Malfoy. Fix...my...clothes...now."

Draco rolled his eyes, "All right, all right. Hold on a second."

He disappeared upstairs and didn't come back for a few minutes. Hermione was about to pound on his door again when he reappeared, fully clothed. He pointed his wand at Hermione, muttered some words and she felt her sweater get a bit looser and a bit longer. She waited for the rest of her outfit to change, but when it didn't, she glared at Draco again.

"I'm not changing it all back, Granger. You were most concerned about exposing skin, yes?"

"How did you know?"

"Predictable; Well, you aren't now, so that's the best your going to get. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to breakfast."

Before Hermione could protest, Draco disappeared through the portrait hole. Hermione dashed upstairs to take another look at her outfit; the buttons on her sweater were no longer about to about to pop, but it was still pretty snug, and she was no longer exposing any skin. She would just have to be careful not to stretch...or bend over. Realizing that it wasn't going to get any more modest, Hermione sighed and decided to give it a shot. She made her way to the Great Hall and took a deep breath before opening the doors and hoping against hope that Blaise would see her entrance. She pushed the doors open and casually walked in as thought nothing had changed. The closer she got to her table and friends, the quieter everyone became.

Hermione sat down next to Ginny and smiled, "Morning guys!"

Everyone stared at her with slack jaws and she suddenly became self conscious, "What?"

"What did you do to your hair, Hermione?" Ron asked in awe. Lavender noticed this and scowled at him.

Hermione remembered the story and growled, "Bloody Malfoy set my hair on fire last night!"

There was a collective gasp from her house mates.

"He said that he was tired of my hair clogging up the shower drain, so he hexed it! Since I had to fix it anyway, I thought I would try something new. Does it look alright?"

Harry grinned, "It's bloody brilliant, Hermione!" Harry thought that there saw something else different about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Yeah, you look amazing!" Ginny gushed.

All Ron could manage was a "Yeah," and Lavender elbowed him in the ribs. Ron blushed and went back to his breakfast.

Hermione blushed, "Thanks, guys. I guess I'll have to thank Malfoy."

Harry scowled, "I'm going to hex him. I can't believe he set your hair on fire; he could have hurt you!"

"Don't worry, Harry; I hexed him enough for the both of us." Hermione smiled and Harry seemed to accept it and went back to eating.

Feeling good about how things had turned out, she decided to sneak a glance over at the Slytherin table. To her amazement, Draco and Blaise were both looking right at her. Hermione couldn't help but blush and she quickly looked away. Over at the Slytherin table, Hermione's new hair was the topic of conversation as well.

"What the hell happened to Granger?" Blaise asked.

"I hexed her hair last night because she is always clogging the bloody shower drain and it caught on fire; I guess she decided to change it when she fixed it."

Blaise quirked an eyebrow at his friend, "You are responsible for the new look?"

"Yeah, I guess I am." Draco smirked.

Blaise grinned and they did a weird male handshake thing, "Nicely done, mate. It should be easier for you to look at her now, eh?"

Draco tried not to think of just how easy it really was to look at her now.

"Her rack looks bigger, too."

Draco and Blaise looked over at Theo as he blatantly stared at Hermione's chest. They looked back at Hermione and noticed the same thing. Blaise looked at Draco again and he put his hands up, "Don't look at me; I had nothing to do with that." He was a great liar.

"Well, whatever it is, it's a major improvement." Blaise said.

Pansy, who had been witness to her friends' and boyfriend's ogling of the Head Girl, slammed her fork onto the table, "What a poser."

Blaise smirked, "Are you jealous, Pansy?"

Pansy glared daggers at Blaise, "I am not jealous; she is still just a dirty little Mudblood."

Blaise just rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say."

XXX

After breakfast, Hermione had gone back to the Gryffindor common room to hang out with her friends. She played a game of Wizard's Chess with Ron and then watched Ron and Harry play as she chatted with Ginny. After about an hour of bickering between Ron and Harry, the girls decided to go to Hermione's room for much needed girl time. As they were walking to the Head's dorm, Hermione was hoping that Draco would be there with his friends, or more importantly, with Blaise. She was also kind of hoping that no one would be there. She had a terrible knot in her stomach from all the butterflies at the thought of seeing him. Hermione recited the password to the portrait of a young couple sitting under a tree and was excited and also terrified when she heard the familiar voices coming from inside the common room.

Ginny looked at her friend, "Are you alright? You look a little flushed."

Hermione breathed, "I'm fine; it's just a little toasty in here."

Ginny raised a brow at Hermione, but said nothing. Hermione stepped through the portrait hole and repeated to herself, 'relax Hermione, relax!' She usually ignored Draco and his friends when they invaded her space, so she tried to do the same thing this time. Her curiosity got the better of her this time, and she looked right at Blaise as she was making her way to her room. He was sitting on the couch between Draco and Daphne and Pansy was, once again, sitting in Theo's lap on a chair. Hermione's breath caught in her throat when she saw that Blaise was watching her. She suddenly forgot what she was supposed to be doing as she got lost in his gaze; he had the most amazing crystal blue eyes she had ever seen.

Hermione saw his expression change as he smirked at her; "I love the new look, Granger; it's very sexy." Blaise then winked at her and she just about swooned on the spot.

Hermione's moment was spoiled when she heard an all too familiar snort, "You've got to be kidding me, Blaise!"

Hermione's gazed hardened and landed on Pansy as she got off Theo's lap and stormed over to Hermione, "You aren't fooling anyone, Granger."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I have no idea what you are talking ab-"

Pansy snorted...again, "Oh, please! This little makeover of yours; don't you think that you are trying just a little too hard to fit in?"

"I wouldn't have had to do this if your friend hadn't set my hair on fire!" She spat, glaring at Draco for the full effect. He was enjoying the free show with an amused expression.

"You could have just put your hair back the way it was. You never would have changed your hair if I hadn't told you how plain, boring and pathetic you were." Pansy sneered at her.

Hermione growled at Pansy, "Don't think for one second that you have any effect on me whatsoever, Parkinson. This had absolutely nothing to do with you, so just do the whole bloody world a favor and get over yourself!"

Pansy clenched her fists and took another menacing step towards Hermione, "Now you listen here, you stupid little Mud-"

"Stop it, Pansy; green is not your color."

Pansy turned around and saw that Blaise had left the couch and was now sneering at her.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, green is not your color, Pansy; jealousy is very unbecoming on a girl."

Pansy gasped, "I am not jealous of her!" Pansy spat the last word with venom.

Blaise smirked at her, "You aren't? Well, you should be; Granger is smarter than you and now she's a hell of a lot better looking than you."

Despite her anger, Hermione blushed at his compliment.

Pansy looked genuinely hurt by Blaise's words, "You aren't actually taking her side over mine, are you?"

Hermione saw Blaise give Pansy a look that she'd never seen on his face before; contempt, "That's two times now that I've rejected you, isn't it."

"Two times?" Everyone turned their attention to Theo who was walking towards them, "What do you mean two times?"

Draco took this one, "You were her second choice, mate; didn't she ever tell you?"

"You didn't tell him, Pansy? You told us that her knew." Daphne finally left the couch and they were all milling around Pansy. It was safe to say that Hermione and Ginny had been forgotten about. Hermione slowly stepped back as the Slytherin's went at it.

Theo looked from Daphne to Draco to Blaise and then back to Pansy, "What the fuck are they talking about?"

Pansy didn't answer so Draco did, "After I dumped her, she went after Blaise, but he didn't want anything to do with her."

"So you just settled for me; is that it?" Theo's normally soft gaze hardened at his girlfriend. Pansy put her hand on his arm, but he shook her off, "Answer the question, Pansy. Was I your last choice?"

"Does it matter?" She whispered, "You know I love you, Theo."

"Yes, it matters!" He yelled, "The entire time we've been together, you swore to me that I was the only one for you!"

"You are the only one for me!" Pansy cried.

"Yeah, only after these two didn't want you!" He flung his hand towards Draco and Blaise before storming out of the common room.

Tears were flowing down Pansy's face and she turned on Blaise, "How could you say that Blaise!?"

Daphne stepped in front of her, "Don't you dare blame Blaise! This is all on you, Pansy! You lied to him; you lied to all of us!"

"Why do you even care what goes on between Theo and I!?" Pansy barked.

"You know why!" Daphne hollered and then ran from the common room.

"You sure do know how to fuck up everything you touch, Pansy." Blaise sneered at her.

"Blaise." Draco said in warning.

Without saying a word, Pansy slapped Blaise right across the face with a loud CRACK. The force of the slap whipped Blaise's head to the side, but he didn't react otherwise, as though he had been expecting it. Draco winced, Hermione and Ginny gasped, and Pansy looked at them as though they had just magically appeared. She glared at the Gryffindors and then spun around and ran from the room in tears. Two Slytherins and two Gryffindors were left and Hermione was completely confused.

"What the hell just happened?" She asked.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Weren't you paying attention? Malfoy dumped Parkinson, so she went after Zabini. He wasn't interested in her, so she went after Nott and apparently had him believing that she was only interested in him. Greengrass is mad at Parkinson because she's had thing for Nott for...how long?" She looked at the Slytherins.

"Since third year." Draco replied.

Hermione looked from Ginny to Draco, "She's right?"

"Pretty much." He said.

"How did you do that?" Blaise asked Ginny.

"Because I"m a gossiping teenage girl; we just know." She smiled.

"Way to go, Granger." Draco deadpanned.

She cocked an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"Well, if you hadn't interrupted our party, that little fiasco never would have happened."

"I...that wasn't...it's not my fault!" Hermione spluttered.

Ginny elbowed Hermione, "He's kidding, Hermione."

Hermione looked at Draco and saw that he was smirking at her and she glared at him. She then looked at Blaise and saw that his cheek was red from where Pansy had slapped him. Without even thinking, Hermione brought her hand up and gently ran her finger across the red mark.

"I can't believe she hit you." Hermione mused.

Blaise's skin was warm and soft, and she never wanted to stop touching him. She looked up and saw the Slytherins looking at her with very amused expressions and Ginny just looked suspicious. Hermione blushed fiercely and dropped her hand from his face like she had been burned. Without another word, she grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her towards her dorm. When the girls were out of sight, Blaise turned to Draco and grinned.

"I think your roommate has a thing for me."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Well, she never did have very good taste; look at who her friends are."

Blaise just smacked his friend upside the head, "We should probably go see if we can fix the damage that Pansy did."

"I've been trying to do that since our fourth year." Draco scoffed, but followed his friend out the door anyway.

XXX

When the girls were in Hermione's room, Ginny turned on her friend, "What was that?"

Hermione knew that Ginny was very observant, especially after she had seen her keep up with the Slytherin drama so well. Hermione had planned on telling her everything, she just wasn't ready to do it yet.

"I thought you had it all figured out." Hermione was deliberately trying to avoid the subject.

"No, not that; I'm talking about that moment you just had with Zabini."

"What moment?"

Ginny growled at her friend and stomped her foot, "You know what I'm talking about, Hermione! You were touching him!"

Hermione blushed and looked down at her feet, confirming her suspicions. Ginny studied her friend for a moment and then all of a sudden, it clicked.

"Malfoy didn't set your hair on fire, did he? You gave yourself a makeover for Zabini; you've been in love with him since what, sixth year?"

"Fifth." Hermione still couldn't look at Ginny.

"So, it is all for him."

When Hermione didn't look up, Ginny walked over to her and put her hand under her chin, making her look up. A tear slid down Hermione's cheek and Ginny wiped it away with her thumb, "What are you crying?"

"Am I stupid, Ginny? I must be completely stupid to think that I would ever have a chance in hell with Blaise Zabini."

"Nonsense; we both saw the way he was looking at you downstairs. And if I recall, he did say your new look was very sexy." Ginny smiled.

"Yes, but what it that's the only thing that he likes about me?"

"He used to go out with Daphne Greengrass, Hermione. That right there tells you that he's hot for brains as well. You've always been smart and beautiful, but now you're smart and hot, and that's exactly what you need to get his attention."

"You aren't bothered by the fact that I'm going after a Slytherin?"

"I would be bothered if you were going after Malfoy."

Hermione grimaced at the mention of his name, "There's something else you should know. I sort of...blackmailed Malfoy into helping me with getting Blaise."

"Come again?" Ginny had to have heard her wrong.

"Well, Malfoy is failing Arithmancy and I told him I would do his homework for two months if he helped me. He really is responsible for my new hair. He didn't set it on fire, he just changed it for me. He knows Blaise better than anyone and this new look is just the first step. He can tell me about Blaise's personality and what kinds of things he likes and stuff like that."

Ginny didn't say a word for a full minute, and then, "You are blackmailing Draco Malfoy into helping you snag Blaise Zabini?"

Hermione nodded and Ginny let out a low whistle, "You are playing with fire, girl."

XXX

Are you guys still intrigued? If I need to speed things up or slow the down, please let me know!

Also, I had someone ask me why I made Blaise an Italian guy in my story...Before I knew that he was a black guy, I read A LOT of fics where he was an Italian guy and that's all I've ever been able to picture him as. So there ya go...in my world, Blaise Zabini is Italian! :)


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